The Last Men in the Last Battles of World War II

I never dreamed I would find a 94 year old sitting at tthe American Legion luncheon bar who had been on Okinawa. The retired Marine Sergeant Major, named Haskell Clark is a strong looking man. Hank Clark said, “I grew up on a dairy farm near Chattanooga, Tennessee and learned the discipline and had work required of this kind of life. I also squirrel hunted a lot and learned to make it through the woods silently while tracking a squirrel, cracking acorns in a tree. I spent much time silently with myself, with the cows and with the woods. I think this is probably why General Buckner chose me as his scout.” (This we will discuss later). Hank continued, “I am the son of Howard and Maudie Clark. Dad was of Irish descent and my mother was a Choctaw Indian. Here is how that all happened. My grandfather became a U.S. Marshall. He had to travel to Oklahoma to pick up a prisoner, but the prisoner tried to escape to an indian reservation. Dad shot him, but while there, spotted this beautiful Choctaw indian maiden and it was love at first sight. He wooed her (maybe bought her) or whatever was necessary to marry her and bring her back to McMinn county Tennessee. My dad, Howard Harriman Clark, met the daughter of this union, while preaching at Goodsprings, Tennessee and made her Maude Lea Clark. Mother was a beautiful woman with olive skin. She kidded that she was the only indian around with red hair—but her red hair was also beautiful. Hank Clark, then a Corporal said, "I had a leg nearly completely torn off in my first parachute jump somewhere near Guadalcanal. I had no training in parachuting. I was trying to drop near the Guadalcanal battle on a secure scouting mission. It was my first parachute jump and I released the parachute too quickly and dropped into the water from over a hundred feet. My leg was badly torn. Fortunately there were no Japanese on this side of the island. I was rescued by some natives from Guadalcanal and taken to a first aid station to a Naval doctor. He looked at the leg and quickly said it should be removed. But a Navy Nurse argued that he could save it. The doctor said okay, if you wish to waste your time and the Corporal says OK. Hank said although groggy I gave him a thumbs up. The leg was temporarily stitched on at the hospital ship nearby and then I was shipped back by air to a hospital in New Zealand. After a few weeks an amazing thing happened in New Zealand. Those of us in my platoon of 30 men, there for R & R, saw a fleet of Japanese headed toward the New Zealand shore. Of course all the able bodied New Zealand fighting men were on New Guinea or the Philippines and only women, children and the very elderly were home in New Zealand. So we gathered every somewhat able bodied man together and took out three old whaling boats and circled out as if coming in. The Japanese ‘fell for it,’ just as we had planned. They assumed that we were landing boats traveling in to New Zealand and probably part of large allied landing party. They turned tail and ran. Since then all I have to do is tell the New Zealanders when I am going to be visiting and I am wined and dined as if I saved their women and children. Perhaps one could honestly say we did--with a few good injured Marines, Navy Corpsman and the providence of God. I took my wife too New Zealand about 1972 and the folks there furnished us a house and treated us royally,,, ... Dr. Jack Johnson said, "On Iwo Jima the Japanese with the heavy defenses, allowed the 28th Marines to get about 300 yards in before they revealed their armament and positions hidden by caves, concrete, steel-reinforced machine gun emplacements and mortar pits. These were composed of the island rock and sulfur sand, blended into the hillsides so well that they could not, at first, be seen. The first waves of American troops, on D+1, were mowed down like wheat. We also lost a number of Navy landing boats, Doctors and Corpsmen.” I asked Dr. Jack, “What was the worst thing that you witnessed these first days on Iwo?” He said: “Some of the Marines, probably a squad, only 50 yards away, were hit dead center by a mortar. Bodies were blown into the air and limbs went flying everywhere.” I then asked, “Jack, Did this ever happen to a landing boat.” “Yes,” he said, “ this also happened to a landing boat like mine nearby. A mortar hit it and it exploded into a thousand pieces.” I was amazed that Jack didn’t place first, as the worst thing witnessed, a landing boat like his with a direct hit. Our only explanation was, that Jack Johnson, like he did all of his life, worried about his own responsibilities first, then about personal danger. The Marines were his and his buddies’ responsibility—the landing boats were a part of his team. CLOSE CALLS FOR JACK JOHNSON AND CREW Jack said, “The Japanese were firing shells constantly, but amazingly, none of the bullets seemed to land inside the landing craft where I was serving as Signalman. Even when their landing gate was open bullets did not quite make it in. Of course there were bodies to return to the ship or casualties to be taken back for medical treatment. My crew and I found the targeted ten minute turn-a-round time for the landing boats to be more and more impossible. But our main objective was to deliver the Marine attack troops—otherwise the island would be lost and all of us with it.” Jack said, “On one occasion, when my crew and I had a lull, we headed around the South Tip of the island to see if we could see the flag we had heard was raised on Mount Suribachi. We were also looking for the B-29s which we had heard were landing, but could not see them because the landing fields were on the other side of the island. As our landing craft rounded the point of Iwo (the Southern tip of the pork chop) shells began skipping off rocks all around. The Japanese had seen us and it was important to move out quickly. Unfortunately my driver, frightened by the bullets singing all around, dropped and hunkered down into the bottom of the boat. He dropped the steering and let the boat careen wildly. Our landing boat began heading right into the laps of the Japanese and we would have been dead meat. I was forced to jump down and take the steering wheel to turn the boat. Bullets continued to bounce off rocks beside of the craft, but amazingly, none hit our crew...”